Western Morning News (Saturday)
FOOD FOR MOTHERING SUNDAY
Martin Hesp has been talking to Michael Dart of Darts Farm to garner some ideas...
Covid has caused major interruptions to almost everything imaginable, but here’s a broadside heading for the world of food and drink that will leave a hole measured in countless £millions. In recent years Mothers’ Day has been the single most important occasion in the catering calendar – more than a quarter of the UK population would normally be eating out this Sunday.
Tomorrow, when more pub and restaurant meals would be served than on any other day of the year, not a single mum will be dining out at a catering establishment anywhere in the UK.
That is one big hole for the hospitality industry – and it is one large setback for families who’d normally find an easy way of giving their beloved mums a welcome treat. Of course, the whole idea of dining out on Mothers’ Day is based on the slightly old-fashioned idea that it’s mum who does all the cooking 364 days a year, and that this is the one Sunday when she can have a rest. That unequal sharing of duties might be slowly changing in a modern society, but the fact remains...
“Mother’s Day remains bigger than Christmas – for many pub and restaurant businesses Mother’s Day is the single biggest catering day of the year.” So declares a two-year-old study entitled Key Insights Shaping the UK Eating-Out Market which found that 26% of the UK population normally dine away from home on Mothers’ Day.
By the way, you might note that I’ve been putting the apostrophe in two different places when spelling Mothers’ Day – and that is because the day itself is cloaked in uncertainty. In this country we’ve had something called Mothering Sunday (otherwise known as
Laetare Sunday) marking the fourth Sunday in Lent since the 16th century. Mother’s Day was invented by an American called Anna Jarvis in the early 1900s – and it was she who insisted on putting the apostrophe before the ‘s’, arguing it was a time to celebrate each mother individually. Many (me included) would say this runs counter to the spirit of good grammar.
“Typical man!” I hear some readers harrumph. “Putting irrelevant detail before the important fact that this is a day when we should be celebrating mothers – regardless of apostrophe and whether we can take them out to Sunday lunch or not!”
Point taken. I will adjust my stance without more ado. And to do so I have consulted a man who many regard as one of the region’s leading experts on Mothering Sunday. Michael Dart is one of the brothers who runs Darts Farm
– the nationally award-winning farm shop just outside Topsham in Devon, which both sells and serves some of the best food and drink west of Bristol. Countless thousands visit the famous shopping destination each year – I have never driven past and seen the car park anything but full – and on a normal Mothers’ Day the place is absolutely heaving.
“Our restaurant is always fully booked,” Michael told me this week. “It has 135 covers and normally on Mother’s Day it all begins at breakfast when people bring their mums in for things like smoked salmon with poached eggs and fresh orange juice with a bit of fizz. It all goes on from there. We also have our takeaway eateries, The Fish Shed and The Shack – our outdoor space is always full with people enjoying meals from them too – whether it’s fresh fish and chips, or a Ruby Red Steak Sandwich.”
Needless to say, the tables will be empty tomorrow. However, Darts Farm is a purveyor of essential foodstuffs and so will be open, as it has been throughout the pandemic. And, as the Dart brothers specialise in selling the very best in regional food and
drink, I thought I’d ask Michael for ideas on what else people can do for their mums this Sunday...
“In some ways it’s all about improvising,” he replied. “We’ve had to improvise since the pandemic began and create a lot of new products – and that is about giving people solutions. We are very proud of the artisan-made local food and drink we sell in the food hall – so one thing we’ve been doing is putting together packages that offer people simple solutions.
“Obviously everyone is dining at home – and we’ve been designing amazing dine-at-home experiences, which would be ideal for an occasion like Mothers’ Day. For example, we do a dish which I think is just right for the season – a rack of local spring lamb with mint and new potatoes. You can even add a Mother’s Day cheese box and finish with a few fabulous Charbonnel et Walker truffles. We also do a classic steak dinner – sirloin and fillet – or even a larger tomahawk steak for sharing.
“Then there’s a springtime cheese and treats package which features (among other English cheeses) the amazing Harbourne Blue, made by Ben Harris in Totnes. It also has hot cross buns from Ryder’s Bakery – a family run business which has been hand-crafting baked goods in Devon for almost 50 years. It includes artisan-made chocolates – each bar, truffle and chocolate pebble handcrafted by award-winning chocolatier Peter Alcroft from Kingsbridge. And there’s a jar of Otter Vale Devon Chutney – they have been handcrafting delicious chutneys for 40 years.
“So what we are trying to do is put things together to make selection easy – and all these things are sold online as well as here in the food hall,” said Michael. “We have discovered since the lockdown that making life easy for people is definitely a good thing to be doing. And it must be working because our website is now delivering as far as the Highlands of Scotland. As part of the online story we have been sending out a ridiculous amount of cream hampers – and to be honest we’ve been staggered by the success. A cream tea is such a perfect gift for mum.
“And let’s not forget something to drink. The Pebblebed Vineyard just down the road does an amazing sparkling fizz. Or there’s a new Sandford Orchards
single-variety cider called Katja – which it is a slightly sparkling Prosecco style tipple, fantastic with spring lamb. There’s plenty of excellent English Wine that will also be wonderful with that lamb, like a bottle of Sharpham Estate Pinot Noir or a Lyme Bay Shoreline. Later in the day, why not make sure mum has a lovely gin and tonic? There are so many excellent Westcountry artisan gins nowadays – I love my Salcombe or Wicked Wolf or Exeter Gins. We sell in excess of 30 different gins, and the interest in artisan-made rum is increasing.”
At this point Michael paused during our Zoom call to muse upon the meaning of Mothering Sunday. “Mothering Sunday has always been a big day,” added Michael. “People know their loved ones get a lot of pleasure out of food. So it’s not about buying cheap and piling high – sometimes it’s all about a little bit of quality.”